Kanu Banerjee

Kanu Banerjee Biography

Kanu Banerjee, also credited as Kanu Bandyopadhyay was a noted theatre artist and film actor of Bengali cinema, known for his association with Satyajit Ray's masterpiece trilogy works. He appeared in the landmark movies of the trilogy - Pather Panchali (1955) and Aparajito (1956), portraying the role of Harihar Ray, father of Apu. His charcter dies in the second part, Aparajito (1956). This artist passed away on January 27, 1983. His death sequence pictured in Aparajito was known for the master work of Ray. Aparajito won several international accolades at different international film festivals. The last part of Apu Trilogy was Apur Sansar, though Kanu was not a part of it.

He was born in June 20, 1905 in Banerjee family of Bengal. Banerjee family had once been a rich zamindari family in Bengal and Kanu Banerjee belongs to the family. It is one of the prestigious families of Bengal which continues a wonderful legacy till now. Married to Swantana Banerjee, he is the 5th heir to the family hierarchy. He had great respect towards Bengali greats like Sisirkumar Bhaduri, his guru and many more personalities like Bijan Bhattacharya and Sambhu Mitra, with whom he has associated with theater works.

His role as Ramakrishna in Prafulla Chakraborty’s Bhagaban Sri Sri Ramakrishna (1955) is also worth mentioning. He played the pivotal role of Harihar in Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy, for which he is remembered always. Though known for the association with Ray, his works are not constrained with this great director only. He has been associated with many well-known Bengali film directors like Pramathesh Barua and was equally active in theater as well. His interviews have been published as a book titled Hariharer Panchali by Sutradhar.

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Updated: June 06, 2014